CAPITOL IDEAS: House passes unemployment reform bill

June 16, 2011

Legislation authorizing 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits is on its way to the state Senate, averting the loss of payments for some 45,000 jobless Pennsylvanians.

The majority-Republican chamber voted 194-0 on this afternoon, without debate, to approve the bill, which also tightens eligibility requirements to wring an estimated $114 million in future savings from the state's unemployment compensation system.

The Senate is set to vote on the bill on Friday, sending it to Gov. Tom Corbett for his signature.

The compromise bill, agreed to by Republicans who control the House and Senate, with input from legislative Democrats requires the jobless to look for work while receiving assistance.

It also freezes the maximum weekly benefit payment starting next year and then slows the rate of growth in those payments in subsequent years to 1 percent to 1.5 percent. The maximum weekly payment is now $572.

It further counts severance pay of more than $17,800 against benefits, a move that would apply to about 6,000 beneficiaries.

Concerns about the system's long-term solvency, including the nearly $4 billion in borrowed benefits the state owes to Washington, will be addressed over the summer, Republican leaders said.

Two area lawmakers, Reps. Doug Reichley, R-Lehigh, and Steve Samuelson, D-Northampton, counted themselves as "yes" votes on the bill.

The legislation is a "commonsense proposal that addresses some of the concerns of the business community, but ensures that 45,000 Pennsylvanians will not lose benefits," Reichley said.

Samuelson said he was pleased that the compromise bill drops, at least for now, some of the more contentious proposals included in an earlier version of the bill that would tighten eligibility requirements for people who voluntarily quit their jobs or are dismissed for misconduct reasons.

The bill is a "very good compromise for working Pennsylvanians," Samuelson said.

Though they came within days of missing Friday's deadline to pass the extension, several House members rose after the vote to credit lawmakers for their efforts.

Rep. Bill Keller, the ranking Democrat on the House Labor & Industry Committee, garnered laughs as he told his colleagues that, "I'd like to jump on the love train."